Helping Harry
by MissingMissile
Summary: You are woken by Moody... wait a second, THE Moody? A Harry Potter fan falls into the Harry Potter universe and decides that he is going to help Harry defeat Voldemort. In the mean time, he has to deal with mini Death Eaters, Snape and Dumbledore. And how come Ginny is now crushing on him rather than Harry? HHr OCGW
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise or any part thereof.

* * *

I woke to someone nudging my side and growling, "Up you lazy lout."

I open my eyes blearily. _What the heck!_ A guy with one massive electric blue eye and a normal looking eye nudged me again. _That's Mad-eye Moody!_ Shacklebolt stood behind him with his wand drawn and pointing it directly at me.

"How did you get here?" Mad-eye barked.

_Good question._ I thought to myself, looking around quickly. I was laying on a couch in a dark room. There was a bunch of other furniture in the room, but what stood out was how dark it was. It seemed like the darkness was overpowering the light, rather than the other way around. _Must be Grimmauld Place,_ I thought.

I cleared my throat as I saw both Shacklebolt and Moody were getting nervous, "Um… I don't know. Is this number 12 Grimmauld Place?"

_That was definitely the wrong thing to say,_ I thought as two red bolts of magic crashed into me.

* * *

"Albus, I'm telling you that he needs to be memory wiped, he _KNEW _where he was!" In my still clouded mind, I thought it might have been Moody.

"We can't just wipe his memory," I had no idea who that was, it was a woman though, "We don't even know who he is."

"He's awake," Someone else said quietly.

"Then ask him to join us."

_That was definitely Dumbledore._

I opened my eye and blinked owlishly at who must have been Arthur Weasley. I was laying in a cot off to the side in the kitchen. Arthur standing close enough to intervene quickly, but not close enough for me to get the drop on him. His wand was also in hand and pointed directly at me.

I looked around the room and noticed that everyone was gathered around the table, which seemed much too long to support itself. _It's magic you idiot_, I said to myself. I saw Tonks, Remus, Moody, Shacklebolt, Bill and several others… including a sneering Severus Snape shrouded in shadows. Wow, he looked even more unpleasant than I thought he would.

"Come here, my boy," Dumbledore said, patting the table next to him, "I'm sure you have a fascinating tale to tell."

"Not really," I muttered, "All I did was wake up, say the wrong thing, get stunned and then wake up again. Not fascinating at all." I sat up and went over to the seat by Dumbledore.

Everyone just kind of looked at me like I had two heads, except Tonks. She giggled and changed her hair from purple to a bright pink. I grinned and gave my attention back to Dumbledore.

"I was wondering how you knew that this was the Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore asked.

_That was a good question… unless it wasn't under the Fidelus yet._ "Well… that's a good question. It's under a fidelus right?"

Moody shifted nervously and I'm sure he had his wand pointed at me under the table. Dumbledore nodded his head.

"Well then that is strange, because I'm sure I didn't read any of your notes…" Suddenly, for some reason I just had a memory of reading one of Dumbledore's hand written notes with the secret of 12 Grimmauld Place on it. "Um… for some reason, I suddenly remembered reading one of your notes." _What the heck, how in the world would I have read one of his notes? I just got here!_

"Maybe he was memory charmed?" Tonks put forward.

"That still doesn't explain how he got the secret," Moody said, "He's probably lying."

"He is telling the truth," Dumbledore said, calming the sudden rage of emotion from the group.

_How would he know… oh yes, mind magics_. "Are you using legilimency on me?"

Everyone in the room froze. The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye brightened, "My dear boy, even though I am rather accomplished in mind magics, I do not need legilimency to see the truth in your eyes."

_Wow… what an accomplished politician. He never answered the question, but it seems he satisfied everyone's curiosity on the subject._ "Oh," I replied, "I didn't know I was that easy to read." With a shrug of my shoulders, I asked, "Is there anything else?"

_Wait… where is Sirius?_ I looked around at the people in the kitchen.

"Is there something troubling you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah, what year is it?" I replied, dreading the answer.

"It is 1995."

I let out a relieved sigh, "So where is Sirius?"

Everyone suddenly froze. _Me and my big mouth._ I braced myself for several stunners only to look really stupid for several seconds. I cracked an eye and saw that everyone (_well almost everyone_ I saw that Tonks was laughing at me) had their wand pointed at me, but no one had let their magic loose.

"What do you mean where is Sirius?" Moody demanded roughly. I felt Arthur's wand tip press against my neck.

"Well," I began hesitantly, my voice wavering from having Arthur's wand press against my neck. He wasn't supposed to be scary as hell. "This is his house, isn't it? And he's a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

_Dang it!_ I wanted to bash my head into the wall. Maybe I should just put several layers of duct tape over my mouth, yeah, that would work.

"What do you know about the Order or the Phoenix?" Arthur's voice was soft and deadly.

_Holy crap! _This guy made me want to curl up and shiver in fear, forget Voldemort.

"I… uh… I know that Dumbledore spearheaded it as a major offensive against Voldemort," Nearly everyone in the room flinched. The wand on his neck remained steady, "And I know that he's restarted it because the ministry refuses to acknowledge Voldemort's return."

"Anything else you want to tell us?" Arthur continued in his deadly silent voice.

His voice scared me so much that I just let loose, "Remus is a werewolf, Sirius escaped Azkaban in his animagus form to protect Harry from Pettigrew who was Ron's pet rat, Moody was impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr then entire school year, Cedric was killed by Pettigrew, Pettigrew used a dark ritual to resurrect Voldemort with Harry's blood, Harry killed a basilisk and Quirrell and duelled Voldemort and probably has PTSD from seeing Cedric die…"

My legs gave out and I fell to my knees.

"Damn," Remus said.

"Poor Ginny," Tonks said, "She'll never get married."

"What's PSTD?" Sirius said, suddenly appearing. _Cool, must be a disillusionment charm._

"It's PTSD," I replied, my voice still shaky, "It stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Basically you never deal with the emotions from situations… like watching Cedric die… and they just bottle up and… bad stuff happens."

"What bad stuff?"

"I actually don't know, but sending him back to the Dursley's definitely didn't help. Rather, they probably made it worse. I think it has something to do with expressing emotions, which Harry has trouble with as it is."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, looking apprehensive.

"What? Didn't Harry tell you anything about the Dursley's?" Sirius shook his head and everyone in the room was listening. I huffed in annoyance, "I don't know how bad it actually was, but Harry was abused. He lived in a cupboard under the stairs until Hogwarts, and he only got the second bedroom when Hagrid forced them to."

"He was not abused," Dumbledore interrupted.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied calmly, "The wards would not allow it. Even an attempt to harm Mr. Potter would result in the attacker being forcibly ejected from the house."

Calmly as possible, I wanted to rail against the Headmaster, I asked, "Do the wards prevent animals from harming him as well?"

Dumbledore thought from several seconds and then nodded, "They would."

"Then the wards are not functioning properly," I replied, "On numerous occasions, Vernon's sister's dog has attacked and bitten Harry while the Dursley's laughed."

It was almost comical how white Dumbledore's face got, but considering the topic… Sirius whirled to face Dumbledore.

"Wait," Moody's voice cut through everyone, effectively silencing both Sirius and Dumbledore, "How do we know that this is the truth and how does this kid know it?"

_Kid? _I thought indignantly, _I'm twenty one!_ Then I looked at myself and realized that I looked like I was mid teens, probably about fifteen or sixteen.

"Does anyone have a mirror?" I asked.

Dumbledore flourished his wand and a full length mirror materialized in front of me. I looked like I did several years ago. _Dang it, puberty again! No wonder I've been blurting stuff out and feeling all… angsty._

"Well boy," Moody growled, "How do you know all this stuff?"

I opened my mouth to tell them about the books, but I couldn't say anything. I frowned but decided to try telling them something else about my life, but nothing came out. "Um… I can't."

"Maybe he was cursed?" Remus murmured.

"Well then, it's a good thing we have a resident curse breaker present," I said, looking pointedly at Bill.

Bill shrugged and walked over to me. Slowly he waved his wand over me and after many flashing lights, glowing appendages and a slight pain in my stomach, he stood back with a sigh. "Well, there were several curses on you, and a couple of blocks on your magical core."

_I have magic…_ I couldn't really think about anything else after that. I could feel the magic coursing through my body, _flowing_ through me, _changing_ me. I was now sure that I could change any part of my body. I could have Tonk's pink hair… My eyes flew open and I saw everyone staring at me opened mouthed.

Bill nodded slowly, "One of the blocks blocked any kind of self-transfiguration."

I looked up and noticed that my hair was indeed the same pink color as Tonk's. My face flaming, I quickly changed it back to it's usual brown. I noticed Tonk's pouting out of the corner of my eye.

"Unfortunately, the curse that prevents him from speaking to us is tied to his magic AND his soul," Bill said, "In order to remove the curse, I would have to remove his magic and his soul, effectively killing him. The only way is for the curse to be satisfied."

"And what are the requirements for the curse to be satisfied?" I asked.

"For you to die probably," Snape sneared from the corner.

I rolled my eyes at Snape, "Voldemort Isn't here, you can drop the whole Death Eater attitude."

I then ignored his glare and turned to Bill expectantly.

"I'm not sure," Bill said slowly, his eyes darting between me and Snape. "The requirements were so complicated that even with the original curse, I'm not sure I could unravel it."

"That leaves us one problem," Arthur said from behind me, "How do we know he's not a Death Eater?"

Bill frowned at his father, "His magic has been bound since birth, I'm pretty sure he's not a Death Eater."

"All that matters is that Harry is still at the Dursley's!" Sirius yelled, "We need to get him out of there now!"

I frowned, "There is something…" I muttered to myself. Something that was tickling the edges of my memory. Dementors! "Quick, get Harry out of there now!" I yelled. Everyone stared at me.

Sirius nodded sharply, "See, he agrees."

"Umbridge sent dementors to attack him," I yelled, "Get over there now!"

Dumbledore took charge, "Arthur, stay with him, Bill, Shacklebolt and Moody." He grabbed a tea cup and muttered _portus_ and suddenly they were all whisked away.

Snape scowled and started muttering under his breath. Everyone else stood in shocked silence for a heartbeat before they started talking among themselves.

I went over and sat across from Tonks. "Hi Tonks," I said brightly.

She smiled back, "Hi… Mr. Know-It-All."

I snorted. _These magicals and there hyphenated names._ I realized that I never introduced myself, "Benjamin, but I just go by Ben."

She grinned, "Okay Benjamin but I just go by Ben."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "I could call you Nymphadora if you'd rather."

Suddenly her expression was very cold and her wand was pointed at me. I suddenly understood why people in the books respected her wish to be called Tonks. "You would regret doing that."

I managed to get around the lump in my throat, "Yeah, I think I would at that." I quickly changed the subject, "So I happen to be a metamorphmagus."

Tonks leered at me, "How far can you go?"

I wasn't quite sure what she was asking, "What do you mean?"

Her grin became bigger, if that were possible, "Can you change into a girl?"

I shrugged and decided to try and change into her. I closed my eyes and felt the magic coursing through me and willed myself to change into Tonk's likeness.

"How was that Tonks?" I said opening my eyes.

She sat there with a goofy look on her face, "Wow, I'm so hot."

I snorted at her and shifted back into me, "Yes, Tonk's, you can see yourself in the mirror though." I realized that Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were probably upstairs. I asked to confirm my suspicions.

"They are," Tonks said, "How you know all this stuff is pretty amazing. I didn't even know that Harry kill Quirrell."

I shrugged, "With Quirrell, I'm pretty sure that it was accidental magic. Dumbledore insisted that it was his mother's sacrifice." I shrugged again, "I don't know how that could be, I'm sure a lot of mothers sacrificed themselves for their kids and it didn't end up like that."

Our conversation was interrupted by twin cracks which I recognized as apparition. "Wait, there isn't any apparition ward around headquarters?"

Tonks pursed her lips, "I guess not. I thought for sure that Dumbledore said there were."

Arthur made his presence known by pressing his wand into the back of my neck again, "Don't even think about it," He hissed.

"I don't know how to apparate," I managed to stammer.

Fred and George walked in. Despite having the most terrifying person in the world having me at gunpoint… or wand-point… I managed to grin.

"Oh look,"

"Sleeping beauty has awoken,"

"Except it's a guy,"

"Too true my roguishly handsome brother,"

"And he's not really a beauty,"

I turned my nose up at them and turned into Malfoy, "I'll have you blood traitors know that I am the epitome of pureblood breeding. No one can even come close to hair as fine as this."

The twins stared for a several seconds before loudly guffawing and buckling over in laughter. I grinned at their antics and turned back to Tonks. "That's my cousin you're insulting."

"Oh please," I replied, rolling my eyes, "Your mom was cast out of the Black family. If anything Snape should be the one to take issue with it, Malfoy is his godson after all."

Snape sneered at me from the corner.

I rolled my eyes at him and went over to stand in the corner by him. I didn't look at him, I just stood next to him. I could feel his eyes on me.

"What do you want, Mr. Benjamin?" Snape queried, it didn't sound as annoyed as before.

"I was wondering how much you like yourself after putting down Lily's child so many times, you must feel like such a grownup."

His voice was practically dripping with venom as he replied, "You know nothing."

I ignored his statement, "Lily would be so proud of you, finally turning from the Dark Arts to the light… only to torture her child at every possible moment."

"He is no child of Lily's," Snape hissed. I was pushing it, but I felt that I had a little more rope to hang myself with.

"Don't worry Snape, Voldemort will probably kill Harry soon and you'll be free from the annoying reminder of Lily for the rest of your life."

Snape slammed me into the wall with a hiss, his cloying breath blowing over my face, "That child is the offspring of James Potter."

I blinked at him like I didn't understand, "But James is dead, thanks to you."

Snape released my shirt as if it burned him. Suddenly, I was slammed into the wall again, this time much more painfully, and his wand was at my neck. He froze though when another wand was pressed against his neck, "Come now Severus, play nice."

Arthur's deadly calm voice made a shiver run up my spine.

Snape reluctantly put away his wand and Arthur went back to sit at the table. I hadn't even seen him move.

"I thought Arthur Weasley was a gentle soul," I whispered hoarsely.

Snape sneered, "Don't be a fool. Arthur's kindly persona is only up when others are there to see it. He is probably more deadly than anyone here, besides Moody."

"Oh… kay, that definitely sheds a different light on things."

Further musings were silenced by the fireplace flashing green and Harry flying out and crashing into Sirius, who had been pacing in front of the fireplace. They both went down in a tangle of limbs as Dumbledore, Bill, Moody and Shacklebolt calmly stepped out behind him. My eyes darted between the three adults, all of them were pale and slightly sick looking.

Finally Dumbledore spoke up, "It seems our guest was indeed correct." Several gasps went around the room, "Unfortunately, we were not quick enough to prevent Mr. Potter from casting his own Patronus and it seems that Cornelius is using this situation to expel Mr. Potter from Hogwarts." Several more gasp went around the room. _This was the Order of the Phoenix?_ I shook my head in scorn. "However, I will make him see reason, especially since three notable people witnessed the attack."

Dumbledore spun around called out "Ministry of Magic" and was gone.

In the stunned silence that followed, I said, "Shacklebolt, why don't you ask for an official investigation into why dementors were seen in Surry. You don't even need to mention Harry's name; this can be a completely separate investigation."

Shacklebolt nodded and vanished in a flash of green fire.

Sirius and Harry both struggled to their feet, "Blast it pup!" Sirius said, "How did you _fly_ out of the floo?" Harry looked sheepish for a second before realizing that Sirius was joking with him. "Come here pup." I looked away a little awkwardly as Harry met my eyes over Sirius' shoulder.

"Who are all these people?" Harry asked quietly.

When no one looked like they wanted to answer, I piped up, "They're the Order of the Phoenix, Harry." Harry just looked more confused, "It's a vigilante group founded by Dumbledore to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

Harry nodded, "So who are you?"

"Ben," I said holding out hand.

Harry shook it, "So… who are you?"

I shook my head in mirth, "I'm here to help you take down Voldemort… I'm not sure how I got here though."

Harry looked weirded out by what I said. Moody spoke up, "We found him on a couch in the parlour this morning. He knew stuff that he shouldn't have known, so we called the Order together and had a brief questioning session… in which he couldn't answer any questions about where he came from or how he knew what he knew. But he did warn us about the dementors in Surry."

"So how did you know about the dementors?" Harry asked me.

"I…" I tried to speak further, but no words would form.

"He has a curse on him that prevents him from saying anything," Bill interjected, "I looked him over myself. And before you ask, no I can't remove the curse without killing him."

Harry nodded, "Well thanks for sending Dumbledore over when you did. Any longer and he wouldn't have seen the dementors."

I nodded. There was no way that this was even going to trial with Dumbledore, Moody and Shacklebolt all having witnessed the attack. "At least Fudge won't try anything stupid with everyone having seen the dementors."

Harry nodded and looked around again, "So are Ron and Hermione here?"

"They're upstairs dear," Molly said bustling over. She wrapped him in a hug, "Why don't you go up and say hello. Diner will be ready in about an hour."

Harry thanked her and started out of the room.

"Harry," I called quietly. He turned and looked at me, "Do you think you could introduce me?"

Harry shrugged and nodded. He was quiet as we walked down the hall. As we reached the stairs he hesitated then asked, "Are you a… muggle?"

I laughed, "I thought I was, but Bill found a block on my magic and removed it, so no, I'm not a muggle. In fact." I changed my face to match his face, "I'm a metamorphmagus, just like Tonks."

"Eh… what's a meta-morph er… what was it again?"

"Metamorphmagus," I chuckled, "Basically means that I'm a shape-shifter."

"That's cool," Harry replied, "So how do you know all this if you thought you were a muggle?"

I smiled weakly at him, "That's covered by the curse, so I can't say anything."

We then heard a voice from down the hall say, "Honestly Ron, how should I know if he's a Death Eater or not." After a beat she continued, "But he only looked fifteen or sixteen and he was dressed like a non-magical. So I would assume he's just some guy… Harry!"

I was standing behind Harry, so they didn't see me until Hermione was hugging Harry and Ron was standing right behind her. Both of them froze.

Ron's demeanor suddenly became suspicious.

Hermione blushed slightly and held out her hand, "Hermione Granger."

I shook her hand, "Ben…" For some reason I couldn't say my last name.

"That falls under the curse as well?" Harry asked

"I guess so," I said with a shrug. Then continued, "Hello Ron, Ginny." Ginny was further in the room and for some reason blushed brilliantly when I said hello, and she wasn't even looking at Harry. Though, I thought she was over her crush now… something to ponder.

"Harry we're so sorry we couldn't write to you," Hermione fired off rapidly, "All the letters had to be so vague."

"It's alright Hermione," Harry said hugging her again.

I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out of my head from _that_. I don't think the books mentioned Harry ever hugging anyone. Hermione must not have been expecting either because she let out a sound like "eep" but sighed and quickly snaked her arms around Harry.

"So Ginny," I said sneaking past Harry and Hermione, who were still hugging, "How has your summer been?"

Ginny blushed again, "It's been okay." She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, "But mom's been having us clean the house."

_What in the world?_ I was pretty sure that her crush on Harry had transferred from Harry to me._ How does Ginny switch crushes so fast?_

"That's too bad," I replied, "But I guess that's better than being attacked by Voldemort."

"Yeah," Ginny replied nervously.

I sat on the bed next to her and tried to see what she was writing, but she quickly closed the little leather book. "Sorry," I stammered at her glare, "I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's alright," Ginny replied, flushing again.

Twin cracks heralded Fred and George's arrival. "Ah, little Harikins is growing up."

I looked over quick enough to see Harry and Hermione break apart from their hug. _They've been hugging this whole time? Good grief, they must __**really**__ like each other._

"Everybody needs love."

"Too true my roguishly handsome brother."

"You said that earlier. We don't repeat lines."

"Ah, but you're such a sexy beast that I couldn't resist."

Hermione and Ginny both snorted at this.

I grinned and transformed into Draco again. "If you two blood traitors were anymore annoying, I'd swear you were part banshee."

Ron whipped out his wand and yelled, "I knew you were some Death Eater plot."

I rolled my eyes at Ron, "Congratulations Ron, you have caught me where I was able to slip past Moody, Dumbledore and Snape." I sneared at him as best I could, "You probably wouldn't even be able to hex me, blood traitor."

Ron turned bright red and fired some curse at me. I spun out of the way and immediately transformed into Snape, somehow transfiguring my clothes along the way.

"Mr. Weasley," I snarled, "That'll be fifty points from Gryffindor for attacking a teacher and detention for the rest of you miserable existence."

Ron's face went pale and his hands started shaking so badly that he nearly dropped his wand. I saw Harry whispering something to Hermione, probably that I was a metamorphmagus. My suspicions were confirmed when Hermione barely managed to stifle a burst of laughter. Harry still had an arm around her shoulders.

I slowly transformed back into my usual self, hoping that my clothes would un-transfigure as well. They did.

At Ron's confused expression, I laugh a pity laugh, "I'm sorry Ron, I couldn't resist teasing you just a little bit."

"Just a little bit!" Ron bellowed once he got his voice back, "You bloody well gave me a heart attack!"

"Ron, language!" Hermione scolded.

"Yes Ron," I grinned at him, "Watch your language or else Snape might actually give you detention."

"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected automatically.

I glanced at her, "I don't go to Hogwarts." But that got me thinking. _Could I go to Hogwarts, though. I did have magic. I don't know if I could be placed in my fifth year with Harry and Ron though…_

"Were you homeschooled?" Ginny asked.

"No, my magic was bound until Bill removed it just a little bit ago," I replied, "I've never even held a wand before."

"Here," Ginny said, pulling her wand out from the neck of her shirt, "Try mine."

I swallowed thickly and gingerly took her wand, "Ah… thanks."

After several seconds, Harry blurted out, "Well, try a spell."

"Harry," Hermione hit his chest… she was still tucked under his arm, "He'll get an under-age warning."

I shook my head slowly, "I don't think so… Ron just used magic and I don't see any warning about his magic use. I think it's because we're under a fidelus." _I hope,_ I added silently to myself.

Then, bracing myself, I called out "_Lumos!_" I quickly averted my eyes as the wand tip lit up like a light bulb.

Hermione clapped her hands like a toddler, "You got it right on your first try!"

I cut the flow of magic from my core to my wand. "I'm going to try something a little more difficult," I said. _But Malfoy was only in his second year when he cast it. Oh well, still more complicated and hopefully I get to see Harry speaking parseltongue._

"_Serpensortia!_" I called out. Rather than the constant trickle of magic I had felt before, I now felt a buildup of magic and then a sudden release as a black snake, easily five feet long, appeared.

Harry immediately started hissing at it. It was rather fascinating to watch. I tried adjusting my ears to see if I could understand what they were saying when, **"**_**... can you tell if he isss friendly?**_**"**

"_**The youngling who smellsss old doesss not wish you or your mate harm."**_

"_**My… mate?"**_Harry's face was burning bright red.

"_**The one with much fur," **_The snake hissed back. It seemed to nod at Hermione, who was still tucked under Harry's arm.

"_**Oh," **_Harry looked stunned, _**"Well okay… do you wish to be sent back?"**_

"_**Yesss speaker," **_The snake replied.

I nodded and flicked Ginny's wand, pushing magic through it. The snake disappeared. Harry nodded his thanks at me and then froze, "How did you do that?"

"What?" I asked, "Listen to your conversation?" Then I realized that I had just cast non-verbally. "Or the non-verbal casting?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to gape at me, "You understood what they were saying?"

"You're a parseltongue too!" Harry exclaimed.

I shook my head no, "No, I just kept adjusting my ears until I could understand what you were saying. I don't think I could replicate the sounds."

"Oh," Harry looked a little disappointed. I guess he was thinking that if someone else he knew was a parselmouth, he wouldn't stand out as much.

"So how did you do the non-verbal casting?" Hermione asked, "This is your first time with a wand after all."

I shrugged, "I just pushed my magic through the wand and wanted it to send the snake back from whence it came."

Hermione looked at me, puzzled for a second, then asked, "Lord of the Rings?" At my nod she started giggling. Everyone else was looking at us like we had two heads, besides Harry.

"Why don't you try a shield charm?" Ginny asked, sitting up on the bed. She looked at me with wide innocent eyes, probably trying to look cute. _Well, she succeeded,_ I thought to myself.

Managing to tear my eyes from her's, I focused on my magic and said, "_Protego!_"

A reddish gold shape formed in front of me. Harry whipped out his wand and said, "_Stupify!_"

His stunner slammed into my shield and shattered it, but his spell was also absorbed in the clash.

"What'd you do that for?" I asked, but I was pretty sure of the answer already.

"I was seeing how strong it was," He replied, placing his arm back on Hermione's shoulders and drawing her closer.

Before I could get any remarks about their relationship in, Molly called up the stairs, "Dinner!"


	2. Chapter 2

At diner Dumbledore showed up, his face long and drawn.

"Harry, I regret to tell you that Fudge will not see reason and you are to be tried in court for the use of underage magic."

Yells erupted around the table, loudest were Molly and Hermione… who was sitting incredibly close to Harry. Harry seemed to sink into himself.

After the initial bout had subsided, I spoke quietly, "Dumbledore, may I speak with you in the other room please?"

Dumbledore didn't look surprised by the request and inclined his head towards the next room. When we were both there, he removed his wand and waved it around several times. Magic flowed from him in waves. "No one can hear us any longer," He said, "What is it you wished to discus?"

"First," I replied, my voice suddenly hard, "I want a straight answer. Did you or did you not use legilimency on me this morning."

Dumbledore's eyes suddenly were twinkling, "I admit trying to read your thoughts through the use of legilimency, but your mind was curiously occluded."

I nodded, figuring that was probably the case. I vowed to look into it later. "Secondly, can I represent Harry's defense for his trial?"

Dumbledore definitely wasn't expecting that. He rocked back on his heels and thought for a moment before answering, "Though you seem curiously well informed, you are too young to represent Harry in court, they would not allow…"

He trailed off as I morphed into an old man, stooped and wrinkly.

"On the other hand, I think that would be acceptable," Dumbledore corrected himself, "I am on thin ice as it is with the ministry and Wizengamot, so I cannot say that I would be a favorable defense for Mr. Potter."

"And third, I don't have a wand or any money-"

"I am sure that Mr. Potter will pay his legal team well," Dumbledore interrupted, "As for your Hogwarts tuition, it has been taken care of. You will be entered your fifth year as Benjamin Benedict Button, a half blood who was tutored at home until this year."

After a pause, I acquiesced, "Very well." Inside I was going _"Benjamin Button! Are you kidding me? And what is it with the 'B's"_

"You are taking Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy as electives," I nodded again, "And the course lists are about to be sent out, but yours wasn't among them, I'm sure Ms. Granger will be more than willing to inform you which supplies are required for Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy.

"Well I must be off," Dumbledore said. _Professor Dumbledore,_ I corrected myself, "Give everyone my best."

As he was sweeping from the room I called, "Headmaster." He paused and glanced back at me, "Don't avoid Harry, it won't do any good." He looked rather shocked by my statement but after a second, nodded and disappeared.

* * *

After much yelling, some tears (from Hermione and Molly), and angry pounding (by Ron and Sirius), I managed to get Sirius' attention and get me and Hermione access to the library. Molly was furious. She yelled at me and Hermione, as if she could get Hermione _not_ to read, then turned her attention to Sirius. After nearly an entire day of her and Sirius yelling at each other, I finally stepped in.

"SHUT UP!" Both Sirius and Molly, who were red in the face and mere inches apart, looked slightly sheepish. "Now, Molly, in a calm and rational voice, explain to me your reasoning for Hermione and I to not be allowed in the library."

"There's dark magic in there!" She loudly blurted out.

I flinched back from how loud her voice was, "My hearing is perfectly fine. There is no need to raise your voice." She reddened at the reprimand, "Your point is valid, but there is also dark magic in the library at Hogwarts, so I'm a bit sceptical that this is actually your reason for not wanting us in the library."

Molly looked flabbergasted that I wasn't yelling at her like Sirius had been. "Oh… er…" Her eyes darted between Harry and Hermione.

_Ah, we come to the crux of the matter. No big happy Weasley family if Harry and Hermione get together._

"Well… some of the books are cursed," She obviously had just thought of that. To be honest, I hadn't thought of that either.

I blinked in surprise, "Really?" Sirius nodded. "That's… strange." But I realized that it was a good security feature for the knowledge in the books, especially if you were the only one who knew the counter curse. "Well, we can use a charm to identify the cursed books and ignore those, how does that sound?"

"You can't use magic outside of school!" Molly gaped at me, "You'll be expelled!"

I snorted at her, "This is a magical property, not only that, but it's also protected by a fidelus. Both me and Ron… eh, _accidentally_ used magic yesterday and no warning has arrived yet." Molly's mouth was open and an incredulous look was on her face, "Excellent, see! No reason for us not to use the library."

I turned to the other kids in the house. Hermione (still tucked under Harry's arm) was smirking. Harry wasn't even paying attention; he was playing with Hermione's hair. Ron was gawking at me like I had just done the impossible, and Ginny… she was trying to look sultry. She _was_ cute though, so I wouldn't have minded a good snog. She licked her lips seductively.

"Okay!" I said quickly, trying to hide my blush, "We'll be in the library then. Good talk."

I practically flew out of the room and was in the library before anyone else. Up next were Hermione and Harry, followed quickly by Ron and Ginny. The library was rather enormous. There were several tables at the front of the library and then there were four long shelves running down the middle of the room, with shelves along the walls as well. It was also eerily quiet.

Ron looked around with distaste for several seconds.

"Honestly Ron!" I huffed, turning into Hermione for a few seconds, "If the thought of work bothers you that much, just go get your chess set." Ron sighed with relief but his expression turned to horror when I transformed back into me.

Ginny started giggling, and then Hermione joined her. Ron muttered something about a bloody wanker and left.

"That was brilliant," Ginny exclaimed. I just smiled back.

"Hermione," She was already purusing one side of the library while I was on the other side, "If you find anything on occlumency of legilimency grab it. Otherwise we're looking for instances where a kid was tried for the use of underage magic. And don't forget to check for cursed books."

Hermione nodded and went back to checking over the books. Harry was following her like a lost puppy.

"He has it bad," Ginny whispered. I almost jumped back she was so close to me. I hadn't even heard her walk up next to me. "It's a good thing I told her that Harry liked her, otherwise they'd probably be dancing around each other and end up losing each other to someone else."

"That would have been bad," I replied hoarsely, looking down at her. She looked up with her eyes wide and innocent. She started breathing heavier and slowly leaned closer to me.

I hesitated, "Ginny…"

"Just go with it, Ben," She closed the distance between us and her lips locked on to mine. I could feel my magic surge and wrap around Ginny, and hers wrap around me. Ginny tangled her hands in my hair and my hands were on her… back, yeah her back.

When Ginny moaned into our kiss, I realized that this was most likely a bad idea and pulled back. Ginny still had her eyes closed and seemed to be savoring the moment.

"Ginny," I whispered. She opened her chocolate brown eyes to look at me. "Ginny, we need to slow down."

"What?" Her bottom lip started trembling. _Gosh, teens immediately jump to the worst conclusion._

"I… like you," I continued quietly, "But I just met you yesterday." I could see relief in her eyes, "So we need to take things slow and get to know each other before snogging each others brains out."

Ginny giggled a little at that and then hugged me quickly, "You're so great. But you act so familiar with all of us that it's hard to believe that we just met you yesterday. I guess I'll look through this other shelf."

I watched her quietly as she went to the shelf and started looking over the titles. When she caught me looking, she blushed and push a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling shyly.

_So that's why they all accepted me so quickly,_ I thought to myself, _I've been acting so familiar with them, that they've just responded in kind… even though they know almost nothing about me._

Idly, I reached up and pulled _Obtaining Occlumentic Omnipotence_ off the shelf. I noticed _Secrets of the Darkest Art,_ the book that went into detail on how to create Horcruxes. I shivered at the feeling coming off of that book. I assumed that it probably had a curse on it.

I finally found the legal section and found an entire book dedicated to previous cases. I continued looking and scored big time. A book containing the relevant sections of the law and going into in depth discussion about all of it's intricacies. Figuring this was enough for now, I went back to the tables at the front of the room.

Ginny was sitting there writing in her journal. She smiled at me but otherwise didn't stop. I looked around for Hermione and Harry. All I could see was slight movement in the furthest corner of the library.

"Eh… are they…" I trailed off.

"Snogging?" Ginny suggested, "Yep, I took a little peak. They've been at it for several minutes." She pouted a little bit.

"Hey," I said. She didn't look up. I poked her in the side. She squeaked and jumped. "They've known each other for four years, we have a lot of catching up to do."

She finally nodded though still looked a little sullen. I winked at her and whispered, "Watch this."

Changing my voice box to that of Molly's, I said, "Oh, hello dears. Where are Hermione and Harry?"

I heard a quiet 'eep!' from Hermione and some quick shuffling from the back of the library. Hermione and Harry quickly appeared from the back of the library, both looking incredibly guilty. Hermione stopped and looked around confused. Harry barely managed to stop, on account of him carrying a massive stack of books.

"Where did Mrs. Weasley go?" She asked.

"I didn't see her, did you Ginny?"

Ginny looked up from her diary, "Nope."

_Wow,_ _she is a great actress._ I thought to myself. Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't known as the brightest witch of her age for nothing.

"Ben!" She scolded.

"Sorry, did I interrupt your snogging session?" I asked cheekily.

"Not cool," Harry said darkly, while Hermione turned bright red.

They finally sat with us. "So did you find any occlumency books, Hermione?"

She glared at me. I just grinned back. She finally nodded, "I found two."

"Alright Harry," I said, "This is your job. Learn occlumency."

Harry looked at the three books spread out in front of him somewhat nervously, "Er… not to question your judgement or anything, but why?"

"Occlumency protects your mind from outside influences," I replied, "If you want to stop these visions from Voldemort, you need to learn occlumency."

"Oh," Harry said looking surprised, "Well okay then." And he picked up one of the books and started to read. Hermione nodded in approval and picked up her own book.

* * *

Over the past week, I had read many interesting cases involving underage magic. Unfortunately, I was fairly certain that I would never use the information. The case from the books seemed more about shutting Harry up rather than actually getting the truth. There was also the fact that Umbridge was the one who sent the dementor in the first place. I wondered if Harry would submit to taking veritaserum, after all, there wasn't really anything he knew that needed to remain hidden. At least, I didn't think so… Fortunately, I had planned ahead and looked up the law on using veritaserum. I found that you could elect to have a specific person ask the questions, rather than having just anyone ask questions.

I was alone at the breakfast table when Tonks stumbled into the room.

"Good morning Tonks," I said cheerfully.

"Bloody morning people," Tonks muttered, while grabbing a cup of coffee.

Harry and Hermione came soon followed, both looking very nervous.

"Don't worry Harry," I said, "I'll have you off the hook in no time."

Everyone stopped and looked at me. I guess I had forgotten to tell them that I was representing Harry's defense humm… "Did I not tell you?" Harry quickly shook his head, "Oh, well I asked Dumbledore and he said that it would probably hurt you more to be seen with him, so…" I transformed into an older man with graying temples, "I'll be representing your defense."

Sirius walked into the room right then, "Who the f-" Hermione slapped his arm, "Umm… I guess you're actually Ben?"

"I guess I need another name for me…"

"Why not go as Benjamin Button Senior?" Hermione suggested.

"That would cover any name slips," Tonks added.

"Not to mention that you look like a Ben," Sirius added. When everyone looked at him like he was crazy, he huffed, "What? It's still early. You can't expect me to have the best joke in every situation."

I just shook my head.

Shortly after that Molly and Arthur both came down and had breakfast with us. Arthur still scared the crap out of me, just… less than he did before.

"Mr. Weasley?"

"Yes, Benjamin?"

I flinched from the tone he used. I swear, he somehow knew that I kissed Ginny. I cleared my throat before continuing, "Is it possible for us to floo into the Ministry?"

"Unfortunately, you and Harry are considered visitors," He replied, "You'll need to go in the visitor's entrance."

I nodded, thinking that was the case, but hoping it wasn't. Ginny came in and didn't even blink at my look. "Morning everyone… morning Ben."

"How did you know it was me?" I queried.

"You have the same posture…" She replied cheekily, "And you responded." She then turned her attention to Harry, "Don't worry Harry, Ben's been studying all week. you'll be fine."

Harry nodded glumly. "I'm sure that Ben knows his stuff."

Arthur stood up before I could respond. Probably because Ginny was sitting down next to me. "Let's go guys. We'll be taking the train to the visitor's entrance."

The brisk walk through the damp, gray morning air was refreshing. Arthur was continuously scanning his surroundings, no doubt on guard for Death Eaters. The train ride was quiet. I recalled Mr. Weasley asking about muggle this and that in the books, but he definitely wasn't doing that now and was navigating his way around like a common commuter.

When we got off the train, Arthur led us upstairs and pointed out the phone booth, "That's the guest entrance to the Ministry. Type six two four four two and then state your business, both of you."

"Wait, where are you going?" Harry's voice wavered slightly.

"To work, I'm going to apparate in and make sure you're in the Ministry before I actually go to work though."

I nodded and said, "Thanks for the trip so far. We'll see you down there."

"Good luck," Arthur murmured and disappeared with a crack.

The booth was slightly cramped with both me and Harry inside. "What was the number?"

"62442," I replied.

After a slight pause, a very feminine voice filled the telephone booth, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Um… Harry Potter, hearing for underage magic."

"Benjamin Button Senior, defense attorney for Mr. Potter," I stated in as clear a voice as I could manage.

Two cards popped out. One said _Harry Potter,_ _Farce of a Hearing._ The other said, _Benjamin Button, Defense Attorney._ We each pinned the card to the front of our clothes. There was a pause before the telephone booth started descending.

"Soo…" Harry drew out, "You and Ginny, hu?"

"What?" I stammered.

"It was actually pretty obvious," Harry replied with a smirk.

"Not as obvious as you and Hermione," I muttered back.

Harry grinned, "Yeah, guess not."

Over the week, Harry and Hermione had been stealing small hugs and kisses here and there, much to Molly's consternation. Sirius had of course encouraged it in his own, rather raunchy, way.

The lift pinged and the doors opened. People bustled from one side of the Ministry to the other… in fact, most of them were meandering from one side of the entrance hall to the other… and then back again. I shook my head, no wonder nothing ever got done at the Ministry.

I spotted the guard station, which I definitely would have missed if I wasn't looking for it, and guided Harry over. The guard took Harry's wand, stated the core, wood and length, and didn't figure out that it was Harry until we were walking away. I directed Harry towards a lift and once we were inside, set it to go to level ten.

"Your hearing was supposed to be in Amelia Bones' office," I told him, "But the Minister changed it at the last minute hoping that you or your defense wouldn't show up. If that happened, he still would have ruled and you probably would have had your magic bound and your wand snapped."

Harry gulped and nodded.

"Court room ten is where the hearing will be," I continued, "It's one of the old court rooms, right next to the Department of Mysteries. Hey maybe we can go and listen to your prophecy after the hearing."

"W-what," Harry stuttered.

"Oh," I replied, just realizing what I'd said, "Um… I'll tell you later. This isn't the most private of places."

Harry nodded and looked at me with a hard glint in his eyes… at least I distracted him. "Now Harry, when we get in there, you can't say anything about Sirius, no matter how much anyone goads you." Harry clenched his jaw, but otherwise nodded. "There will be a woman who looks like a toad that will most likely question your mother's birth, Sirius Black's sanity and your magical abilities, but you must not lose your temper!" Harry nodded again, "If you remain calm and cool, it will show how mature you are. If you feel like you are about to lose your temper, I want you to slowly raise your eyebrow at the person who is asking you questions. It will make them feel like you are questioning their sanity and most likely anger them, making our case look stronger."

Harry laughed, but nodded again.

"This is the world of pure bloods, Harry," I continued, "You have to act like a pure blood to beat them."

The lift dinged open, much like the telephone booth had. We walked down the long hall until we reached courtroom ten. "Ah here we are Harry, courtroom ten."

The next door over the entrance for the Department of Mysteries. I was getting some seriously weird magical vibes from there.

"Do we just go in?" Harry asked. His voice was much more steady than it had been earlier.

"Tempus," I murmured. Seven fifty three floated over my raised hand. "I think we are close enough to the time to enter."

Harry turned the heavy iron handle and pulled the door open. He gasped.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters contained therein belong to JKR and by no means do I claim to own any part of said franchise

* * *

I looked past him into the room and saw the Wizengamot seated, but they were quietly talking amongst themselves. Front and center was Fudge talking to a human toad. Still not enough reason for Harry to gasp.

"What's wrong Harry?"

"This was where the Lestranges were tried," Harry said. _Oh…_ I had forgotten about that. "I saw it in Dumbledore's pensieve."

"Cool," I replied. He looked at me strangely. "Anyway, let's get this show on the road."

I strode in like I owned the place. Harry followed meekly, trying to refrain from drawing attention to himself.

"Who in the blazes are you?" Fudge spluttered, as the entire room fell silent.

I frowned at him like he was an idiot, "I'm the defense attorney, of course."

"Defense what?" Umbridge asked.

"Attorney, ma'am" I said, "My apologies if you were unable to hear madam."

Both Fudge and Umbridge looked confused. _What in the blazes? How do they not know what an attorney is?_

"Whatever," I heard Fudge mutter, "As long as Dumbledore isn't here." Then, loud enough for everyone to hear, said, "Let us begin."

Fudge went through all the legalese and I tried not to be bored while he went through a massive list that really meant nothing. "… and… if you would introduce yourself."

I snapped back to reality, "Benjamin Button Senior, providing defense for the accused."

"Very well," Fudge snapped, "The charges against the accused are as follows, that he did knowingly and deliberately, in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on August the second at twenty-three minutes past five, which constitutes an offense under paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under section thirteen of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy."

Fudge looked down at Harry as if he were a small child, "You are Harry James Potter, of number four Little Whinging, Surrey, are you not?"

Harry looked at me and I nodded, giving him the go ahead to answer. "I am."

Fudge seemed annoyed by Harry differing to me, "And did you receive an official warning from the Ministry for using underage magic three years ago, did you not?"

Again Harry differed to me. I gave him the go ahead, "I did."

"And yet you conjured a Patronus on the second of August?"

"I did," Harry replied when I gave him the nod.

"You conjured a Patronus?" A woman who I was sure was Amelia Bones asked, "A corporeal Patronus?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Impressive," Madam Bones murmured.

"It doesn't matter if it's impressive or not," Fudge practically squealed, "In fact impressive make it worse!"

"Minister, if I may," I asked for permission to speak.

"Er… yes, yes of course, go ahead," He stammered. _I guess wizards aren't used to maners._

"What difference does it make if the magic is impressive or unimpressive?" I questioned, "There is nothing in the Reasonable Restriction for Underage Sorcery that states the more impressive the magic, the greater the offense."

Fudge turn pink at this, "You… er… are of course correct. But that does not change the fact that he knowingly broke the law!"

I interrupted before Fudge could continue his rant, "Minister, you are of course aware of the exceptions to the Reasonable Restriction for Underage Sorcery?"

The toad could no longer keep her mouth shut, "Hem-hem. Everyone is of course aware that magic may be used to defend one's self in case of life threatening situations, but there is no evidence of Mr. Potter's life being threatened in this situation."

"You are of course lying," I replied bluntly, "There is plenty of evidence that his life was indeed being threatened, but," I continued riding over her objections, "That is not the exception to which I was referring."

Umbridge's jaw flapped up and down in shock. Fudge's face turned puce, "You will refrain from calling my Undersecretary a liar!"

"Well," I replied calmly, "What other reason would your administration have for throwing out the testimony of a Senior Auror and highly respected retired Auror? And not only that, but throwing out the evidence before the case even comes to trial."

Fudge turned pale and Umbridge looked like she could spit nails. "That is the Minister's prerogative and not some half-blood's concern!"

I watched as Harry slowly raised one eyebrow at Umbridge's rant. I could tell that he was upset at the comment. Not for himself, but because it showed just how racist (magic-ist?) those in the government were. "If you insist Madam Undersecretary," I said, "But I find myself then questioning if this trial is really about underage magic use or about something else entirely."

Everyone looked surprised that I would try and call them out, but before Fudge or Umbridge could respond, someone from the Wizengamot spoke up, "What is this something else?"

I turned my attention to the Wizengamot who were sitting to the side of the Fudge's podium, "Madam… Longbottom?" She inclined her head to show that I had guessed correctly, "It is no secret that at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry Potter claimed to have seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named return to life through a dark ritual."

"Those were the confounded ramblings of a school boy!" Fudge screeched.

"But the on site Healer found no evidence of a Confundus charm," I replied calmly, "Yet you chose to ignore those facts and have since loaded up the Daily Prophet in order to harm Mr. Potter's reputation." The minister and the toad didn't know how to respond to that. They knew that an immediate denial would be more damning than a cool response.

"If Mr. Potter's statement at the end of the year were the ramblings of a confounded victim," I continued, "Would his statements not have changed once the Confundus charm was removed?"

Fudge growled at me.

"Also," I said with a smirk, "If Mr. Potter was Confounded, why not immediately get him to Saint Mungo's for spell damage? Instead, you blast his reputation continuously throughout the summer and say they are the ravings of a mad lunatic."

"This trial is not about what happened during the Triwizard Tournament," Umbridge said, finally cooling down enough to get her head on straight. It seemed that she was smarter than Fudge. "This is about finding if Mr. Potter used underage magic during the summer."

I smiled condescendingly at her, "Do you want the truth madam?"

She smiled at me, "I believe that is the purpose of a trial."

"Very well," I nodded, "Then it is apparent that Mr. Potter must be questioned under Veritaserum."

The entire room erupted into chaos. Everyone was yelling for about ten seconds, and then it was quiet again.

"There will be no need for that," Umbridge said quietly. She knew she'd been had.

"Oh so you believe there were dementor at Mr. Potter's residence?"

"Of course not," She snapped back.

"Hence the reason for a truth potion," I replied. Turning to Harry, I asked, "Do you submit to the use of Veritaserum?"

Harry nodded, "I have nothing to hide, so I submit to the use of Veritaserum. But I also request that my defense counselor be the only one allowed to question me."

Madam Bones sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose, "Very well. Bring the Veritaserum."

An Auror hurried out of the room and returned several minutes later with a dropper and bottle of clear liquid.

"Administer the potion."

Three drops were given to Harry.

The auror waved his wand around Harry's chair and with a quick flick, pointed it toward me as well. He had set up a ward that allowed Harry to hear only questions asked by me, but everyone would be able to hear what Harry was saying.

"I'll make sure the potion's taken effect," I said to the Wizengamot, "What is your name."

"Harry."

"Smart ass," I said with a sigh, "Who is your crush?"

"Hermione."

I could see a slight tightening around his eye's… I was so going to pay for that after the trial. "Very well, let's get to the bottom of this. Did you use magic in front of muggles this summer?"

"No, I used it in front of a single muggle."

I muttered obscenities under my breath, "What charm did you perform?"

"I cast the Patronus charm."

"I find it hard to believe that you are able to cast a Patronus charm," I stated loudly, "Can you elaborate?"

"During my third year, dementors were placed around the school," Harry said emotionlessly, "I had a strong reaction to the dementors, so I asked my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to help. He taught me how to cast it."

"Very well," I continued, "Did you have a reason for using magic, or were you just showing off?"

"My cousin and I were attacked by dementors."

"This is outrageous!" Fudge yelled, standing up.

"Yes it is!" I yelled back, "Dementors in Surry! I trust an investigation will be conducted."

"The boy is obviously lying!" Of course the toad couldn't keep her trap shut.

I rolled my eyes, "You are obviously an idiot. Mr. Potter is clearly under the effects of Veritaserum and nothing he says can be a lie."

Umbridge scowled and sat back down.

I decided to ignore the outburst, "Mr. Potter, you said this was your cousin. Do you live in his house?"

"I do."

"Then he was aware of magic before you ever cast the Patronus charm?"

"He was."

"Minister," I said turning to him, "You are aware that the Reasonable Restriction for Underage Sorcery does not apply to muggles already aware of magic?"

"Of course I know that," He spluttered.

I looked at him like he was an idiot and muttered, "I have no idea why this case was brought to trial." I turned to the Wizengamot, "Are there any questions you'd like me to ask Mr. Potter?"

"Did You-Know-Who really come back?" I didn't know who it was.

I shrugged and turned to Harry, "Well Mr. Potter, did You-Know-Who really come back?"

"Of course he really came back," Harry said, "Peter Pettigrew used some dark ritual to bring him back."

"Pettigrew is dead!" Fudge screamed over the uproar.

I looked at him curiously, "Then maybe he was a reanimated corpse?"

"No," Harry said. I hadn't realized that he would answer, "Pettigrew had to cut off his hand for the ritual. I don't think a corpse's hand would have worked."

I shrugged to the minister, "Maybe he just faked his death." Fudge purpled at this. "Any other questions?"

I waited a beat.

"Where is the weapon?!" Umbridge screamed.

I looked at Umbridge curiously, but knew that the question would just make her look like a fool. "You'll have to be more specific than that Undersecretary Umbridge."

"Where is Dumbledore's weapon?" She turned a bright red at the looks the Wizengamot were sending her.

"Where is Dumbledore's weapon?" I asked Harry.

"I don't know what you mean," Harry replied, "Although a wand could be a weapon I suppose."

"I'm talking about the one that Dumbledore intends to use against the ministry," Umbridge interrupted, "We all know he wants to overthrow the ministry, so where is his weapon."

I sighed, "Madam, let me just say that you are a fool. Dumbledore has been offered the position of minister several times and has refused every single time. If he has refused a freely offered position, why would he now try to take, by force, that very same position?"

Her face turned a puce color but she just growled, "Ask the question."

"Are you aware of Dumbledore trying to take over the ministry?"

Harry seemed to gape for several seconds. "I was not aware of this," Harry responded, "It does not seem like something he would do."

I looked Umbridge in the eye, "Obviously you were operating under false assumptions madam Umbridge."

"Dumbledore is building an army of students to take over the ministry!" Umbridge screamed, spittle flying from her lips, "Everyone knows it!"

I looked taken aback, but inwardly I was smiling, "An army of students? Mr. Potter, is Dumbledore training up an army of students?"

Harry snorted, "Dumbledore is rarely seen among the student population. If he was training up an "army" of students, it would be really obvious. As it is, we've only had one or two good defense teachers in all of my years. That does not constitute a good army."

"Minister Fudge," I said, "Perhaps it would be wise for your Senior Undersecretary to see a Mind Healer?"

"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Button," Fudge responded, looking sideways at Umbridge.

Umbridge sat there seething as she knew that if she said anything, she would only condemn herself.

"I call for a vote to find if Harry Potter is guilty or not guilty of breaking the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery," Fudge intoned.

"All in favor of clearing the charged." Almost the entire room lit up.

"All against." A total of three people voted against Harry being cleared.

"Harry Potter you and your defense counselor are free to go," Fudge muttered.

I was a little shocked at how rapidly they moved once Fudge called for a vote, but I wasn't going to complain. "Minister Fudge," I said inclining my head. I also did the same for Amelia Bones and Mrs. Longbottom (I couldn't remember her first name).

I wandlessly tried to banish the ward around Harry. I think I succeeded. I gripped Harry's shoulder and quickly steered him from the room and through the ministry.

I stopped in front of an open floo, "Alright Harry. We're going to Diagon Alley. First we're going to get ice cream and then you're buying me a wand."

Harry looked at me strangely, "I'm buying you a wand?"

"That's my legal fee," I told him.

Harry shrugged, grabbed some floo powder and disappeared in a puff of green flames. I followed quickly after him. I stumbled into Harry, who seemed to have just picked himself up off the floor and we both crashed to the floor. With both of us grumbling about stupid wizarding travel, we headed into the alley and Harry took us straight to Fortescue's. After enjoying a strange wizarding ice cream, which exploded in your face if you didn't lick it often enough, Harry led me towards Ollivanders.

"Afternoon, Mr. Potter," Ollivander said in a strange, airy voice, "Your wand is working well?"

Harry absentmindedly nodded, "I'm actually treating a friend of mine to a wand today." He motioned to me.

Ollivanders pale gray eyes roved over my entire body several times. I had reverted to my now normal "Interesting. Which arm is your wand arm?" His measuring tape started zooming around my body.

"Er, right I suppose," Even though I expected it, Ollivander's tape measurer was sort of creeping me out. Especially when it started measuring the front of my pants.

"Try this, hawthorne and dragon heartstring," Before I even had a chance to wave it, he snatched it out of my hands. "No, no, try this one holly and…"

This went on for many, many wands until, "Be cautious with this wand, Mr. Button," I had told him my name earlier when trying to make light conversation, "It is Alder and a rather unique core…" Ollivander hesitated, "This core is from the predecessor to the Phoenix, a bird that lived entirely in flames and I must say that this wand is ideally suited to spells involving fire. Please don't burn down my shop."

I gulped and slowly took the wand. An intense warmth filled me and my magic rejoiced at being united with such a great wand. Sparks shot out of the wand and filled that air before I was able to reign in my magic and stop it.

Ollivander looked pleased, "That is only the second time I've had the pleasure of giving away one of my unique wands."

"Unique wands?" I asked, "You mean non-standard cores?"

"That is correct, Mr. Button," Ollivander replied, "That'll be twenty Galleons."

"I thought they were only seven," Harry said. He had been quiet the entire time we were there.

"That's for a standard wand, Mr. Potter. Are you willing to pay even with the price jump?"

Harry nodded, "His service was worth a lot more than that to me."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Harry Potter universe

* * *

The rest of the summer passed rather quickly. Hermione had made a schedule for me once she learned that I would be joining them at Hogwarts. I found most topics incredibly easy. Mentioning it to Hermione, she nodded and said that it didn't compare to the amount of work required in the muggle schooling system. I was quickly caught up to fifth year material.

I decided to bring Hermione into the horcrux hunt. I didn't exactly tell her about the horcruxes, but with her having access to the Black library… well, let's just say I wasn't holding my breath. I decided that there had to be a way for us to remove the horcrux in Harry without him being hit by a killing curse. That was Hermione's research. I managed to swear her to secrecy when I brought up the fact that it was for Harry. She was still hesitant giving her oath, but when I explained further, she jumped into her research.

I had gotten the locket horcrux, but I didn't have any way to destroy it, so I had given it to Kreacher and told him to hide it somewhere no one could find it. He was loathed to listen to a muggle born, as he somehow knew that I was one, but heeded my words after Mrs. Weasley threw out a bunch of old dark objects. I had promised him that once I got a way to destroy the locket, I would call him and we could destroy it together.

Harry was almost constantly practicing Occlumency. I was sure that he had mastered the subject. One, because he could display a perfectly blank face, even through the twins funniest pranks. And two, because Sirius had tested his shields and was completely rebuffed. Nonetheless, Harry continued to practice and decided that the rest of us should aswell. We all started about a week after Harry, but most of us were rather accomplished by now. My wand had more effect than I had initially thought. Fire was almost constantly on my mind now, and I had decided that fire would be my Occlumency shields. And not just any fire, fiendfyre. I didn't want anyone getting into my mind and if they got burned, shame on them for trying to read my mind.

Ginny and I grew closer. I still wasn't quite sure how her crush on Harry transferred to me, but I wasn't arguing. She had a cute button nose, and a tight, toned body from playing quidditch. She and I had started sneaking small kisses and hugs by the end of summer. Mrs. Weasley seemed disappointed that Hermione and Ron hadn't gotten together, but after she figured out that Harry and Hermione were together, along with me and Ginny, she stopped trying to force Ron and Hermione together.

Mrs. Weasley did have us clean some, but when she realized that we were all studying for the upcoming semester, she toned it down quite a bit. I had used a couple of situation where she had asked us to clean as a session to learn cleaning charms. Ron had even taken to studying with us. I'm not sure how it happened, but Ron had suddenly turned into a studying fiend. Well, I wouldn't go that far, but he studied just as much as the rest of us. Maybe he was finally growing up… maybe.

The day to go back to Hogwarts was here… and the Weasley's were running around trying to find the oddest things. At one point Ginny had walked past with a bra in one hand and a jar of jam in the other. Harry wasn't quite as bad as the Weasley's, but he had spent the better part of the morning packing. Hermione and I were both neat and we had both packed that night before.

Harry appeared levitating his trunk in front of him.

"Hope I didn't forget anything," He muttered, setting his trunk down by Hermione's. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug.

I waited until they were done snuggling and said, "Check with a summoning charm."

That's what I had done.

"Accio," Harry said. Hermione was suddenly jerked towards Harry and a belt came flying out of the library.

"Something Hermione's wearing and a belt from the library?" I said with a raised eyebrow. "Are you two getting… frisky?"

"I was wondering where this had got to after…" His face turned a brilliant red. Quickly he stuffed the belt into his trunk, "Anyway…"

"Are you wearing his boxers Hermione?" I asked with a grin.

"They're comfortable," Hermione muttered. She too was blushing.

Sirius started to walk past, but when he saw our expressions, he stopped. "This I gotta hear."

"Oh," Harry said awkwardly, "Well it's not really that funny."

My grin grew. "Harry," I asked, "How did you lose a belt in the library?"

Sirius' laughter echo throughout the entire house. It was loud enough for Mrs. Weasley to stick her head out of the kitchen, frown and finally ignore that whatever it was that had happened.

Sirius meandered away after taking the mickey out of Harry for a number of minutes.

"So, Hermione," I said, "Did you find anything further on our project?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she blushed brilliantly, "Oh, well, I… erm… I did find _something_."

She was super embarrassed. This was going to be fun. "So, care to share? Or does Harry need to leave for a few minutes?"

Hermione glared at me and Harry looked shocked. He quickly looked between Hermione and me.

"He's joking Harry," She growled, "In fact, it would be easier to tell you than him."

"Oo, do tell," I said.

Hermione huffed, "Well I found a ritual powerful enough to rid the soul of… foreign contaminates shall we say? The problem is the requirements… eh, it requires… um… a virgin sacrifice."

I was shocked. I really hadn't been expecting that. "Oh… so like Harry would have to kill-"

"No!" Hermione shouted. Then blushed at her outburst, "Someone needs to sacrifice their virginity with Harry during the ritual."

"Well… I guess that's a little better than what I was thinking…" Harry nodded in agreement, "So… you two haven't… er… haven't _consummated_ your relationship… have you?"

Hermione glared at me, and Harry blushed, looking else where. "That's none of your business," Hermione ranted, "But, no, we have not!"

"Sorry," I said. I'm sure my face was burning, "But after the belt in the library and you wearing… well I just wanted to know if the ritual would work."

"Why are we talking about this again?" Harry asked quietly, looking down at the floor.

"It's for you," Hermione said, cuddling up to his side, "We'll tell you later… when no one else is around to hear."

To make her point, Tonks and Remus walked by, soon followed by Moody.

The Weasleys eventually got packed up. Before we left, I had each of them perform a summoning charm, much to Mrs. Weasley's consternation, but, after Ron summoned three shirts, two robes, a pair of trousers, several chocolate frogs and a bunch of other miscellaneous things, she was fine with the others performing the charm.

The trip to Kings Cross was uneventful. We wound our way through the crowd, the others occasionally waving to another student. Eventually we all got on the train and found a compartment with Neville and Luna.

"Come on Ron," Hermione said after we had got their trunks stowed, "We need to get to the prefects meeting."

I had forgotten about that… and Ron was _still_ a prefect. I had hoped that with my quick word to Dumbledore about avoiding Harry, he might have decided that Harry would actually make a good prefect. Apparently not. Well, maybe Ron would grow up this year and be fair to everyone… fat chance, but one can only hope.

"This is Luna Lovegood," Ginny said before Hermione left, "See lives just over the hill from us."

Luna, complete with an upside down Quibbler, peered over the top of her magazine.

"Luna, this is Ben, Harry and Hermione, and you already know Ron," Ginny finished.

"A pleasure," Luna said dreamily.

Hermione blinked a few times at her, but quickly left, pulling Ron with her. I sat on the bench across from Luna.

"So, Luna," I said as Ginny sat down next to me. If she was any closer she would have been in my lap. I wasn't complaining, mind you. "Are you looking forward to another year at Hogwarts?"

She lowered the Quibbler and looked at me for several seconds with her head cock, "The nargles told me that if you discipline the blibbering humdingers quickly, my year will be most enjoyable."

I nodded. As I thought, Luna used her imaginary creatures as euphemisms for people who picked on her or made fun of her.

"I'll get Harry to help me," I replied, "Is it just the two main ones that need punishing?"

Luna tilted her head back and forth, considering, "No, snorkacks all have a herd mentality and tend to follow the blibbering humdingers. If you only punish the blibbering humdingers, others will take their place."

"So… they all need to punished?" I asked.

Luna shook her head, "Babies don't need to be punished." She tapped her lip thoughtfully, "If they're over three, they should be punished."

I understood, but I noticed that Harry and Neville were looking between us like we were crazy. Ginny had a faint smile on her face. I don't know if she understood, or if she just thought I was being nice to Luna.

I turned to Harry, "Want to do some serious pranking on some bullies?"

"Eh… only if it on bullies, I suppose," He replied.

We chatted for the next couple hours. Ron and Hermione had returned shortly after the prefect's meeting, with Ron stewing about Malfoy being made a prefect. Malfoy did stop by to insult everyone, but didn't know how to respond when I made it clear that He-Who-Has-No-Nose was cowering in a maze of daisies because he couldn't smell his way out. Malfoy had left with a confused sneer on his face.

We arrived at the Hogsmeade station without any other incidents. In the bustle of students, I saw a strange looking woman calling out, "First years over here!"

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry called loudly.

"Tone it down a bit Harry," I whispered harshly to Harry, "It'd be best to not draw attention to it."

Harry looked at me curiously.

"You know where he is," Hermione stated.

"Indeed," I replied, "But I'll tell you guys later."

Harry looked like he was about to protest, but he seemed to realize it would be better to not draw attention to it. Harry needed to bring out his Slytherin side more often. I hoped that with occlumency, he would be able to be more cunning, rather than the brash Gryffindor he was right now. The hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin after all.

We all managed to squeeze into a single carriage. Of course that was with Ginny sitting on my lap and Hermione sitting on Harry's. I whispered jokes into Ginny's ear, so she was giggling the entire trip.

I was hoping that I'd be able to convince the hat to put me in Gryffindor with Harry and Ron, otherwise I'd probably end up in Slytherin because of all of the plans I had for Harry. Snape was waiting for me at the front doors.

I had seen him several times after our initial… conversation, but he didn't seem to know how to respond to my clearly pleasant greetings. He still looked like he didn't know whether to sneer at me or not.

"Mr. Button."

"Professor Snape," I said in reply, "Looking forward to another year of teaching?"

He sneered at me, "Teaching first years the fine art of potion making is like teaching an acromantula to dance."

"Well," I replied, "We must accept the good with the bad. Look on the bright side, you could be suffering the cruciatus at the moment. Instead, you skulk in this castle with a bunch of whiny brats trying to teach them potions!"

"Sometimes, I'd take the cruciatus," Snape muttered.

I laughed, "Well, as I've never been under the cruciatus, I cannot argue one way or another. But from the description, I think that is a gross exaggeration."

Snape glared at me.

"But then again," I continued, grinned at him, "Your entire life is one be gross exaggeration."

Snape sighed dramatically while pinching the bridge of his nose, "Wait here for the rest of the first years. You'll be sorted after them."

As he turned to leave, I said, "I'm sorry Professor." He merely raise an eyebrow, "I have plans for Harry and being in Slytherin would be detrimental to those plans."

"You think you would be in Slytherin?" Snape asked incredulously.

"I _know _I would be sorted into Slytherin," I replied, "But I'm not going to let the hat put me there."

He really didn't know how to respond to that and quickly left.

* * *

The sorting went by without me recognizing anyone's name. Finally, after everyone else had been sorted, Professor McGonagall calling out, "Button, Benjamin."

Apparently all the girls thought I looked hot, or that's what I gathered from their looks. One girl I walked past, I think it was Daphne Greengrass (which was really weird as she was supposed to give everyone the cold shoulder), actually looked me up and down and licked her lips.

I eventually made it to the stool and put the hat on my head. After about ten second, with nothing happening, I cautiously lowered my Occlumency shields.

_About time you realized what the problem was,_ The hat grumbled.

_Yeah… hehe, sorry about that,_ I said sheepishly.

_No harm, no foul,_ The hat replied, _Now let's see where to put you. Hummm… very Slytherin, and slightly Gryffindor and slightly Hufflepuff._

_You better put me in Gryffindor,_ I said with a very noticeable edge to my voice.

_Oh, ho ho, _The hat laughed at me, _Have no fear, I know to sort you to Harry Potter's house._

_Okay,_ I breathed a sigh of relief, _I do have a question though._

_Let's hear it then,_ The hat responded.

_Is the Headmaster making plans for me?_

The hat really laughed now, _The Headmaster is making plans for everyone. Not only is he a great politician, he is also a great actor._

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted before I could question him further.

I plastered a grin on my face and made my way over to Ginny and the others. This would take careful consideration if Dumbledore was playing everyone for the fool. Especially if the entire encounter at Grimmauld was just a charade. I really hoped that Dumbledore's grandfatherly persona wasn't a facade.

My thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore's welcoming feast speech and, "Hem hem."

_Damn!_

I had no idea how she was made the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. After Fudge and Umbridge's embarrassment at the trial, I had hoped that they would have had a competent teacher installed, rather than Umbridge.

"Harry," I hissed leaning over the table, "The same thing goes for her classes as with the trial. She is going to do everything in her power to rile you up, but you can't do anything about it." Harry scowled at this, "I know you don't like it, but when ever she insults your mother, or Sirius or even the headmaster, you need to let out your inner Slytherin and subtly erode her standing amongst the students."

"Eh… how?" Harry whispered back.

I suppressed my annoyance, "It differs with each case. You'll have to wing it."

Harry nodded seriously at me. I sighed. _Hopefully_ I'll be able to get Harry to think more like a Slytherin.

* * *

I pulled Harry and Hermione aside in the common room after she had sent all the first years to bed.

"Alright," I said, knowing that they were chomping at the bit for any information on Hagrid, "I have good-ish news and I have bad news."

Harry just crossed his arms and looked stonily at me. Hermione said nothing, probably knowing my perchance for the dramatic.

"So… the good news is that Hagrid is fine and is looking to curry favor with the giants." Harry and Hermione must have assumed this as they nodded, "The bad news is that Voldemort is also trying the same thing and I'm pretty sure that Voldemort's bootlickers curry favor with the right Gurg."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, just now remembering that Hagrid brought his brother back with him.

"Umm… Gurg?"

"That's the name of the leader," I replied, "Basically means whoever is the biggest or killed the biggest giant." After a pause, I continued, "Unfortunately, I have some more bad news."

"And what's that?" Harry was noticeably warmer to me now that his worry over Hagrid was sated.

"Hagrid's going to bring his half brother back with him when he returns in… November, I think."

"Oh dear," Hermione gasped.

"Is he…" Harry didn't really know how to put it, "Um… _big_?"

"Very," I sighed, "And he's going to want to introduce you to him as well. Ugg, okay, let's worry about that later. I have further homework for you," I told Hermione in a hushed tone, "You need to see if there's anything that could possibly interfere with the… er, _task _that you've found."

Her expression was blank. I guess she didn't switch gears that quickly. "You _know_," I said, trying to think of euphemisms for the Soul Cleansing Ritual, "The one that washes away a stain?"

Her eyes lit up, "Oh I've found-"

"Not now!" I hissed, interrupting her, "You also need to find spells that check for controlling potions, tracking charms, and monitoring charms. There's always a chance that someone might try to be listening."

Hermione nodded, her eyes almost comically wide, "I'll get right on that."

* * *

The first Defense class was as terrible as I thought it would be, but in preparation, I had read the entire book (aided by Occlumency) and so had Hermione, Harry and Ron. She of course open with saying how terrible our education thus far had been and how our great minister Fudge was now rectifying the situation. As expected, she told us to put our wands away and read our books.

Parvati was the first to break. I had told the others how class was going to go, and told them not to question it.

"Yes, dear," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice, "Did you have a question?"

"Yes professor," She responded, "I was wondering when we were going to practice these spells."

"Why ever would you need to practice these spells?" _Errg. _She made me want to punch her right in her flabby toad face.

"Well, for protection and-"

"Why ever would you need protection?" She continued in her sickly sweet voice, "Aurors are standing by at all times to protect you."

I raised my hand. But Ernie burst out, "But what about our OWLs?"

"Five points from Hufflepuff for speaking out in class," She said, ignoring his question, "Yes, you have a question Mr…?"

"Yes," I replied, pretending not to notice she was asking for my name, "What if we want to be aurors? Shouldn't we have good, practical knowledge of what you are teaching?"

Umbridge laughed a high pitched, shrill laugh, "None of you are auror material."

"Excuse me?" I said, "I thought I just heard you say, after not even seeing any of us use a wand, that we were not auror material. How can you even say that?"

Umbridge blustered for a bit, "I know full well-"

"No you don't," I interrupted her, "You walked in to class and told us to put away our wands. You have no idea how any of us are with wands." She looked ready to go off, so I quickly continued, "I have a proposition for you. If the smartest person in the class can cast an unknown spell on the first time, I'll take back everything I've said and proclaim Minister Fudge as the greatest Minister since Merlin. But if they are unable to cast the spell, you allow us to practice the spells in class."

"No," She said smiling sweetly (at least to her), "Detention, for questioning a teach."

"No," I replied, "I did not question you, merely put forth a proposition to see if your teaching method worked."

I had her. From the look on her face, she knew I had her. If she rejected what I was saying, she was basically saying that her entire teaching method didn't work. Her only choice was to accept my proposal or lose face.

"Very well," She said, trying to keep an ugly look off her face… and failing, "How do you propose to find the smartest student in the class?"

I shrugged, "Do you want the smartest person overall? Or do you want the best person at Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"The best person at Defense Against the Dark Arts," She replied without hesitation.

"Okay," I said, "That's Harry Potter."

She laughed again shrilly, "Harry Potter is a mediocre student at best."

"Professor," I interrupted her, "I don't know where you are getting your information from, but you sound like a school yard bully trying to pick a fight." Then turning to the class, I called out, "Who here thinks that Harry isn't the best at defense?"

No one raised their hand.

"Well Professor," I asked, "The class vote is unanimous, do you still want to continue insulting Harry Potter?"

She visibly gulped, "No, I suppose that Mr. Potter will have to do."

"Alright, come on Harry," I said, walking to the front of the room.

"Why me?" Harry complained, but grudgingly followed me.

"Alright class," I said, taking the role of a teacher, "The ministry's view point is that if theory is thoroughly understood, you should be able to cast any spell. So, I'm going to make sure that Harry understands the theory behind the spell before he tries to cast it. Alright Harry," I turned to him, "You've memorized the textbook, are there any spells in there that you don't know how to cast?"

"No," He replied, "I know how to cast them all."

"Very well," I replied, "Did you have another spell in mind?"

"Actually, yes," Harry responded, "Hermione could you grab my _Dark Lords and how to Defeat Them_?" She quickly pulled out a rather thin book (for magicals, it was still about an inch thick) and brought it to Harry. He murmured his thanks and flipped to a page, "This is the spell I want to cast."

"_Aegis Fortis?_" My eyebrows crawled to my hairline. It was a real spell. I had seen it every now and then in fanfiction, but I was sure that it was never mentioned in any of the Books.

"That spell is entirely too complicated for any of you to cast," Umbridge broke in, "Very few aurors have even mastered that spell."

"Actually," I said, reading quickly through the theory, "It says here that it used to be taught as a fifth year spell, so Harry should be able to cast this with ample understanding of theory."

She growled, ripped the book from my hands, and, after reading that it was indeed a fifth year spell, grudgingly gave it back.

"Alright, Harry," I said, "I want to make sure that you have a firm grip on the theory of this spell."

I spent the next five to ten minutes quizzing and trying to explaining questions Harry had about the shielding charm. Sometimes we had to get Hermione to help explain. The _Aegis Fortis_ shield was similar to _protego_, except that it was specifically designed to protect against dark spells, and it blocked nearly every spell (except unforgivables).

When he was finally read to cast, I stepped back, "Alright Harry, this is it. You thoroughly understand the theory, so you should have no problem casting this spell."

Harry nodded, a grim, determined look on his face. He pulled out his wand, performed the movements perfectly, and growled out _Aegis Fortis_ with such determination that I half expected the spell to cover the entire room.

Nothing happened.

"This is not acceptable," Umbridge stated, "I require a qualified student to perform this charm."

I shrugged, "That's fine, they were all paying attention as we went over the theory, so he or she should have no problem cast the charm. Who is qualified to cast this charm?"

"Draco Malfoy's father is an upstanding citizen of the wizarding world," She said, "He is fully qualified to cast this charm."

"Umm…" I was amazed at the stupidity of these pure bloods, "You realized that just because someone's father is an upstanding citizen, that that doesn't mean anything about the son." Umbridge stared at me with a stupid look on her face, "Right, well I have no problems with your choice. Draco Malfoy, would you please come show the rest of us worthless slugs how it's done?"

Now when he failed, we could make fun of him. He and Umbridge, along with a few other Slytherins, nodded their heads in a self-assured way, as if I was finally addressing the rest of us properly. What surprised me was the looks several Slytherins shot Draco. Obviously he wasn't well liked in his house.

Malfoy strutted up to the front of the room. He really was a ponce.

"Alright Mr. Malfoy," I said, trying not to bitch slap him, "Do you need any questions answered, a refresher on the theory perhaps?"

Malfoy sniffed and looked at me like I was mud to be scraped from his boot, "I am a pureblood, of course I don't need a refresher."

"Very well," I said, "We all humbly await the demonstration of your amazing magical prowess." Half the class snickered at my sarcasm, but Malfoy didn't seem to pick up on it.

"_Aegis Fortis_," Malfoy smirked, as if magic would do his bidding because he was a pureblood. His wand movements were sloppy, and he slurred the ending of aegis.

A farting noise erupted from his wand and the entire class burst into laughter… well all the boys. The girls were hiding their laughter behind their hands. After all, it wasn't proper for a lady to laugh at such vulgar displays.

"Well," I said, "I can honestly say that that was terrible. Your wand movements were all over the place and your pronunciation was terrible." A few snickers ran through the classroom, "It's not funny," I snapped at them, "Many of you share his poor wand movements and pronunciation. Everyone needs to work on it, not just Malfoy."

I noticed that Harry was standing off to the side, practicing the wand movements and pronunciation, "Well now that Harry has had time to practice, why don't we see if he can cast the shielding charm?"

"I hate you," Harry murmured without any real venom.

He stepped up, went through the wand movements quite a bit quicker than before (still without any mistakes that I could see) and called, "_Aegis Fortis!_"

A silver dome materialized in front of Harry.

"Well done Harry," I turned to Umbridge, "Professor, should we test Mr. Potter's shield?"

"Of course," She whipped out her wand, and with simply terrible wand movements, cried, "_Ruptor_!"

I had read about this spell, never tried casting it, but it was supposed to be a shield breaker spell and it was definitely in the Dark Arts because it caused your mouth to bleed. I wonder if Umbridge had some kind of weird fetish with blood. I shivered at the thought and wondered if I could get Hermione to _Obliviate _that memory later.

As the spell impacted Harry's shield their was a deep reverberation that ran through the room. Kind of like someone hitting a gong. Harry's shield held and Umbridge's shield breaking curse fizzled out.

The thing I had read out about the Dark Arts was that they were relatively easy to cast because they required a sacrifice. The sacrifice did one of two things. It either augmented the power of the spell or it eased the power required to cast the spell. The _Ruptor _curse was in the second category. The blood sacrifice (bleeding in the mouth) lowered the power required to cast the spell properly. The fact that Harry's shield held even under Umbridge's spell, was testament to Harry's power… or her lack of power.

"Bravo Harry," I said, ignoring Umbridge's flapping jaw. She had apparently expected Harry's shield to crumble under the power of her pureblood spell, "Obviously, everyone needs practice to properly cast a spell, as demonstrated by the Professor's poorly cast dark shield breaking curse."

"What!" She screeched, "I am a pureblood-"

"That's nice, but magic doesn't care," I interrupted, "Obviously being a pureblood does not allow you to cast magic perfectly on your first time. Your wand movements were sloppy. While you were still able to cast the spell, it was at a reduced power because of your poor wand handling."

"I know that," She snapped.

"You do?" I asked, "Because you received a Poor on your OWLs and were unable to take your NEWTs with such a low score from your OWLs."

She turned deathly pale and hoarsely whispered, "How did you know that?"

"My father is a legal consultant," I said, "He always makes sure to check and see if the teachers are up-to-snuff. When he pulled up your file, he was severely disappointed in the ministry."

I had sneaked out one night and gone to the records hall in the ministry. I assumed the form of some poor sap I had seen coming out of the ministry and was amazed at how simple it was to lay five galleons on the record keeper's desk and receive a copy of Umbridge's OWLs.

The Hogwarts rumor mill was going to have a field day with this.

* * *

I don't know how, but I somehow made it out of that class without getting detention. As I expected, every student knew of Umbridge's Defense scores by lunch time and there was a steady stream of students going to and from the Owlery. Hopefully, with so many students owling their parents, Umbridge wouldn't last long in her Defense position. Or, if she did, her power base would be taken away and she would just be a normal teacher. Well, a sucky teacher, but one without the power to take over Hogwarts.

Nothing really exciting happened the first week of the school year. Hermione had looked up the spell to check for different types of potions and charms and after scanning each of us, found that Harry had three charms on him and the rest of us each had one. After that Hermione decided to scan each of us before talking about anything important and often found that the listening charms had usually been replaced.

Magic seemed really easy. I don't know why, but everything I tried just worked. Maybe others weren't visualizing it well enough, or something. Arithmancy wasn't as hard as multivariable calculus or even entry level calculus. It did have quite a bit of number theory and a lot of geometry, but was no where near the level of complexity of muggle mathematics. Care of Magical Creatures was… interesting, even if I didn't really learn anything pertaining to life. It was pretty much the same with Herbology and Astronomy, though Astronomy was important in rituals, so I tried to pay attention whenever that came up. Potions was… strange. It seemed that Snape was trying to reconcile what I had told him, how he had treated Harry, and his animosity of James Potter… And he still didn't know how to act around Harry. Sometimes he would snub Harry and take points away for stupid things. At other times he would point out how Harry was doing a great job. Everyone was on pins and needles around him, thinking he had finally snapped.

But really, the first exciting thing happened when Dumbledore asked to see me in his office. A note was given to me by a first year. I think she was from Hufflepuff. All it said was _Smarties, 1 o'clock_.

Heading up to the Headmaster's office, I was slightly worried. The sorting hat had said that Dumbledore was making plans, but he didn't say whether those plans were good or bad.

"Smarties," I whispered under my breath as I reached the entrance to the Headmaster's office.

Before I even had the chance to knock, Dumbledore called out, "Come in, Mr. Button."

I grunted and opened the door. His office truly was a wonder. Little trinkets and knick knacks litter shelves across the room. A large globe and an even larger telescope blocked out most of the view out of the windows. And then the books. There were shelves upon shelves of books and all of them looked ancient. Of course there was also the sword of Godric Gryffindor and all the portraits of previous Headmasters.

"Headmasters," I greeted the portraits. Then turned to Dumbledore, "And Headmaster."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw many of the portraits perk up at the respect I'd given them.

"Mr. Button, please have a seat," Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like mad. "I've called you here to… consult with you about my current course of action."

I nodded. This was quite smart of Dumbledore. If it seemed like he was extending me an olive branch, I would feel required to share with him my knowledge. "Very well professor."

"I would like to know-"

"First," I interrupted, "I would like to test you and make sure that you are as good as everyone thinks you are."

Dumbledore's beard twitched. I assumed he was smiling, "I can assure you that I am not as good as everyone thinks I am."

"Good, because I would feel like I would need to kiss the ground before you, if you were," I replied. Then becoming serious, I said, "I want you to tell me how Voldemort was able to survive as a spirit without a body."

Dumbledore froze. He had been straightening several objects on his desk, but he now sat back and studied me closely. "I am currently unable to answer your question with a hundred percent certainty."

I stared at him for several more seconds before saying, "Very well, tell me what you fear Voldemort has done to achieve his supposed immortality."

Dumbledore gulped visibly. "Horcruxes," He whispered hoarsely, "I think he created seven horcruxes and spread them over Britain to protect himself from moving on."

"Unfortunately that is indeed what Voldemort has done," Dumbledore put his head in his hands, "Voldemort meant to create six horcruxes. The night he killed the Potters, I believe he only had five, but has since made Nagini a horcrux."

"So Harry-" Dumbledore immediately shut his mouth. I don't think he actually meant to say that.

"Harry… what?" I asked looking like I didn't know what he was talking about, "Come on Dumbledore, if you expect my help, I expect full disclosure in return."

Dumbledore nodded, looking quite his age, "I suspect - now that you have confirmed Voldemort has indeed created horcuxes - that Harry is a horcrux."

I stared at him blankly. I of course knew that Harry was a horcrux and had Hermione working through a solution to that problem, but I never really expected Dumbledore to come out and tell me.

I sighed, "Harry is indeed a horcrux. But-" I continued before he could say anything, "If you think that the only way to remove a horcrux is through his death, you are mistaken."

Dumbledore's mouth fell open at this.

"You wizards need to think," I muttered, rubbing my forehead, "What type of magic are horcruxes?"

"Dark magic," Dumbledore answered immediately.

I sighed. Yesterday Ron had gone off about about dark magic and I was kind of sick of hearing about dark magic. "Yes, yes, everyone understands that horcruxes are dark magic. What I meant was, what branch of magic do horcruxes fall under?"

Dumbledore frowned at my dismissal of dark magic. "I suppose it would be soul magic."

"You supposition would be correct," I replied, "Now, is there any way to purge foreign contamination from ones soul?"

"There are indeed several rituals to… shall we say, 'cleanse one's soul?'" Dumbledore slowly replied, "I'm not sure if I know of a ritual powerful enough to remove a horcrux."

Dumbledore got up and made his way to one of the bookshelves. After several moments, he removed a book and flipped to a specific page. He read for several seconds before asking, "What ritual did you have in mind for Harry?"

I wasn't surprised that Dumbledore realized that I had already looked in to this, "I believe that Hermione said it was called _profunda anima purgare_."

"You told Hermione?" Dumbledore was clearly shocked.

"Of course," I replied, "She is very good at research. And with the Black library at her disposal, I had little doubt that she would find a suitable way to remove Voldemort's horcrux from Harry."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "I must stress how important it is to keep this information hidden-"

"Do you think me a fool?"

Dumbledore's shocked look would probably made me laugh under any other circumstances, "Pardon?"

"Despite your need to never tell any one person everything, I like to keep my friends informed, so that they may make their own decisions." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, "Now, I know that Voldemort would most likely move his horcruxes if he found out that we were destroying them, but that doesn't mean that I don't tell anyone about them. But, to ease your concern, I made Hermione swear to keep it a secret, _and _we all learned occlumency over the summer."

Dumbledore's shocked look returned, "You all learned occlumency?"

"Indeed," I replied with a small smile, "Harry seems unusually adept at it, and I believe he said that he now has a full mindscape. The rest of us… we just have shields."

Dumbledore seemed to return to his usual unflappable nature, "May I test your shields?"

"I don't know if that is a good idea," I responded, "My shields are constantly set to a lethal level to protect… well, everyone."

Dumbledore considered me for a moment, "I would still like to test your shields."

"Very well-" Before I was even able to finish my statement, Dumbledore had sent a mental probe into my mind. Almost as soon as he did, he clutched his head and gasped. With his eyes closed, he stumbled over to a cabinet behind his desk, removed a vial of potion and quickly swallowed. After several seconds, the pain seemed to recede.

"I did warn you."

"That was… unexpected," Dumbledore, though somewhat better, moved cautiously back to his desk. "I must congratulate you on your highly irregular, but effective, occlumency barrier. You said everyone learned occlumency this summer?"

"Eh, I guess I should have been clearer," I replied, "I got Harry to learn it, he in turn got Hermione, Ron, Ginny and I to learn it after he did."

"Incredible," Dumbledore murmured, "For ones so young to learn something so difficult."

I shrugged, "I've found magic to be rather simple… if I have the right focus."

I noticed Dumbledore shift gears. Dumbledore peered at me, as if assessing how much to tell me. I merely raised an eyebrow.

"I currently have Remus talking with different werewolf tribes across England and Europe…"

When I realized that he was waiting for my input, I shrugged, "Good, I believe that he will convince them not to side with Voldemort, but I don't think he'll be able to convince them to fight against him. With werewolves, I think our main concern will be… eh, how shall I put it, _unattached _werewolves. With Voldemort, he'll look for people that hold a grudge against the ministry because of purebloods and their discrimination against other beings."

Dumbledore sighed dramatically, "That's what I was afraid of."

"I think what would help keep werewolves out of Voldemort's control would be to kill Grayback."

Dumbledore stiffened, "I don't approve of killing."

"I do," I replied, "I don't, however, approve of murder. We are at war, and it's time for you to realize that people die in war."

"They can be brought to the light."

"No," I responded, "Many of these people you are willing to forgive have killed in cold blood, have raped and generally committed crimes for which death is the only answer. They are cold hearted do these things for fun."

"What about the ones who have not done this," Dumbledore asked, "What about Imperius victims?"

"During war you cannot take chances," I replied, "It is indeed unfortunate that the Imperius curse will no doubt claim the lives of innocent individuals, but force must be met with force. After the war though, put them all on trial. Make sure that they were Imperiused. Give them all veritaserum and question them."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Dumbledore said.

"Why?"

"It is cost prohibitive. Veritaserum is very expensive."

"The cost would be much higher if you allowed them to walk free," I responded.

Dumbledore considered this for several moments. "I believe you are correct," He finally responded with a sigh.

"Something else I wanted to confront you about was the amount of bullying you allow in Hogwarts."

Dumbledore frowned at me, but otherwise did not respond.

"Luna Lovegood has been targeted since she started here and nothing has been done to curtail the bullying."

Dumbledore frowned at me, "Until you came here."

"You just condemned yourself," I hissed, "Obviously no one was doing anything to help out Luna, so Harry and I stepped in and showed those Blibbering Humdingers what it was like."

"Mr. Button," Dumbledore said patiently, "I cannot have you harming students-"

"But it's fine if they are doing the exact same thing to Luna," I interrupted.

"There was never enough evidence to-"

"Professor," I interrupted, "Everyone in Luna's house knew who did it. You can do what's easy, or you can do what's right. I chose to do what was right."

"You view stipping students and sticking them to the wall as doing what is right?"

"They were bullies," I replied, "The only thing a bully understands is force. Actually, that brings me to my next issue. Why are you allowing Snape to raise the next generation of Death Eaters?"

"What?" Dumbledore spluttered.

"A lot of the children in Slytherin's house are allowed to get away with anything," I replied, "They need to be punished to show that their action have consequences."

"I do not believe that punishing them would prevent them from joining Voldemort," Dumbledore responded.

"Neither do I… at least not now," I said, "They've been able to get away with anything for too many years."

"If we show them how forgiving we are, they will come to us when they realize that Voldemort is not what he appears."

"What about the victims?" I asked, "If you allow them to hurt students, what do you do with the hurt students? Tell them to forgive the Slytherins?"

Dumbledore wasn't sure how to respond.

"You know, there is a reason that no one in the Order likes Snape," I said.

Dumbledore frowned, "I realize that he is a rather hard person to get along with…"

"It's because he never showed anyone, besides you, remorse for his actions," I said, "He acts like everyone should be forgiving him, but he still acts like a Death Eater. He has never shown that he didn't like being a Death Eater, but rather continues to act like one, driving everyone in the Order to dislike, if not hate him."

"I…" Dumbledore swallowed hard, "I hadn't thought of it like that before."

"You trust and understand him, because he came to you and showed remorse for his actions," I replied, "You see a good person trying to act bad. Everyone else sees a bad person acting bad."

"I… will give what you have said some deep thought," Dumbledore finally said.

"Also," I added, "The Slytherins don't see you as the wise, forgiving person you try to portray. They see you as a fool because they can get away anything. If you want to be seen as good and powerful, you need to punish wrong doings and reward those who do good."

Dumbledore nodded in assent, "Let us get back to the topic at hand. Hagrid is currently parleying with the giants."

I couldn't help it. I snorted.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no…" I replied, "Well, yes I guess there is. Voldemort also sent Death Eaters to convince the giants to join his side and, well… I'm pretty sure that the Death Eaters arrived a few days after Hagrid and gave… er… a sort of weapon to another giant who then took over." I trailed off, not knowing how to put the fact that Hagrid was bring his half brother back with him.

Dumbledore paled, "So they joined Voldemort's side?"

"Um… actually I don't know if they did or not. I think they might have actually killed the Death Eaters, but I think Voldemort will also manage to convince a few giants to join his side." I paused, trying to find a way to break Grawp to him. I decided to just come out with it.

"There is something else…"

"Yes," Dumbledore prodded.

"Hagrid… he found his half brother," I said with a wince, "He's also bringing said half brother back and wants to show everyone that giants are nice, friendly being."

"Oh dear."

"Yup," I said, "And when the centaurs find that Hagrid is keeping a giant in the forbidden forest, well, let's just say that it won't be pretty."

"Indeed." Dumbledore sat in thought for several minutes. I calmly looked around his office, giving time for Dumbledore to collect his thoughts.

I was also thinking, thinking about horcruxes. Obviously I could go and get the diadem, and I already had Kreacher on call with the locket. The diary was taken care of. That only left the Gaunt ring, Hufflepuff's cup, Harry and Nagini. Meh, Nagini and Hufflepuff's cup were going to be hard to get to. Hermione and Harry would perform the ritual and get rid of that horcrux. And then Dumbledore… I guess Harry and I would need to go with him to keep him from putting on the ring. Or maybe just Harry.

"Well, you have given me much to think about," Dumbledore said, "I'll let you get back to your friends."

"Quick question first," Dumbledore motioned for me to go ahead, "Is there a storage container that will negate compulsion charms and the like?"

"There are runic arrays that can be scribed onto containers to inhibit compulsion charms," Dumbledore replied slowly, "But the best way to contain artefacts which serve nefarious purposes is to use a iron box lined with lead."

"Thank you Dumbledore," I replied, heading out of his office.

"Benjamin."

"Don't worry about me," I replied, "Or Harry… or anyone really. I am taking no chances, but I am including them in most aspects of the destruction of Voldemort."

Dumbledore sighed, "Very well, just… be carefull."


End file.
